See Search Box
lower down this column for searches of Finfacts news pages. Where there may be
the odd special character missing from an older page, it's a problem that
developed when Interactive Tools upgraded to a new content management system.

Welcome

Finfacts is Ireland's leading business information site and
you are in its business news section.

The volume of retail sales
(i.e. excluding price effects) in March 2014 increased by 1.7% when compared
with February 2014 and there was an increase of 8.9% in the annual
figure. If Motor Trades are excluded there was a decrease of 1.1% in the
volume of retail sales in March 2014 when compared with February 2014 and there
was an increase of 2.2% in the annual figure.

There was an increase of 1.4% in the value of retail sales in March 2014 when
compared with February 2014 and there was an annual increase of 6.4% when
compared with March 2013. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a monthly
decrease of 1.5% in the value of retail sales and an annual decrease of 0.1%.

Retail Ireland, the Ibec group that represents
the retail sector, today said CSO figures published for retail sales in March
were very disappointing and showed no change in sales in shops around the
country. The value of sales, excluding motor trades and bars, stayed exactly the
same compared with March 2013. There was an increase of 2.2% in the volume of
those sales, the failure of growing sales volumes to translate into turnover
growth is disappointing, and a clear sign of the aggressive discounting needed
to grow footfall in many sectors. The data for the first quarter of 2014 show a
rise in sales of only 0.5%, a disappointing result considering the low base from
which sales stood in 2013.

Stephen Lynam,
Retail Ireland director said: "There was an
increase in March in the sales of clothing, hardware, furniture, electrical
items and books. The double digit growth in furniture sales is indicative of a
stronger property market, and long may that continue. However, these increases
were offset by falls in sales in supermarkets, specialised food shops like
butchers, and department stores.

"The figures for the first quarter are disappointing. While any growth is
welcome, an increase in the value of sales, excluding motor sales, of just 0.5%
is simply not enough to create jobs and prevent store closures.

"One of the biggest issues facing retailers is high levels of local authority
rates and charges. With the local elections on the horizon, we will be looking
to candidates to outline what they intend to do to help to reduce the burden on
struggling retailers."

Irish retail spending makes a healthy start to 2014:
Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy, commented - - "Stock indices fell on
Friday: the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1.3% and the S&P500 0.8%. Renewed tensions in
Ukraine hit risk appetite. US 10-year Treasury yields fell most of the day to a
trough of 2.64%, currently trading at 2.675%. German 10-year bund yields fell
back below 1.5%. The euro gained against the dollar on Friday, rising close to
$1.385, but fell overnight to $1.382. Irish retail sales data for March will be
released this morning. Retail sales fell by 1.5% in February, but this followed
rises through November (+0.7%), December (1.0%) and January (+1.9%). This meant
that overall sales volumes rose by 2% in the three months to February. Even if
sales are flat in March, they will still have expanded at a healthy 1.5% pace in
Q1 2014.

The bounce-back in Irish retail spending has been reflected in car sales. New
private cars licensed for the first time were up 27% in Q1 2014 compared with Q1
2013. Alongside the pick-up in consumer confidence surveys as Ireland approached
the EU/IMF bailout, sentiment surveys also indicated that households were now
ready to spend on big-ticket items including cars. The improvement in confidence
is now translating into spending. Motor trades volumes were up 14.9% in the year
to February, the best performing retail sector. Furniture sales, up 13.6% on the
year, and electrical goods, up 5.9%, also out-performed.

In the UK, retail sales data released Friday showed a small 0.1% expansion in
March. Overall, UK retail sales expanded by 1% in Q1 2014. This suggests that UK
consumer spending should bounce back in Q1 after a surprisingly weak 0.4% rise
in Q4 2013. Indeed, although UK GDP grew by 0.7% in Q4 2013, this was
disappointingly weak given that business surveys such as the PMIs suggested an
expansion of GDP in excess of 1%, or a 4% annualised pace.

In contrast, BBA mortgage approvals released on Friday were disappointing.
Approvals had increased to 49,000 in January, their highest level since 2007.
However, they have fallen back for two consecutive months to a four-month low of
45,933. This could suggest that activity was pushed up temporarily by the
introduction of the Help-to-Buy scheme and is now falling back. Better quality
borrowers may have rushed transactions before those with lower deposits could
avail of the Help-to-Buy scheme. Mortgage activity could also be depressed in
the coming months as banks adhere to new lending standards, checking if
prospective borrowers can afford loan repayments if interest rates rise."

Economic View: State in line for €1bn from IBRC liquidation: Dermot O'Leary of
Goodbody comments - - "Following the successful liquidation process, the Irish
Government confirmed on Friday that it will face no further liability from IBRC. While the Government statement simply
confirmed that the proceeds from the liquidation would exceed the €12.9bn of secured debt
owed to NAMA, the Sunday Business Post reported yesterday that when the full sales
process is complete that unsecured creditors could receive up to €1.4bn. The SBP reports
that the Government is in line for 70% of this pay out, amounting to c. €1bn.

A final total will not be known until much later this year, following the
decision to remarket the €1.9bn of unsold loans. On Friday, the Government confirmed that the
direction to NAMA to acquire assets from the Special Liquidators was withdrawn. The re-sale will
include half of mortgages included in Project Sand which were left unsold and opens up the
possibility that individual borrowers will be given the opportunity to buy back their own loans.

The fact that no assets will now transfer to NAMA will lead to further
questions about the future of that organisation. It wasn’t that long ago that the belief
was that NAMA could increase in size by 50%, making it unlikely that the Agency
could be wound down by 2020. From the State’s point of view, the supposedly insatiable
appetite for Irish assets makes a fast-track wind down a real possibility."

Banks: RBS looks to investors to take stake in Ulster Bank? Eamonn Hughes and
Colm Foley of Goodbody comment -- "Press reports over the weekend (Sunday
Times) indicate that RBS is about to kick off a search for private equity investors to take a stake in Ulster Bank. The process,
overseen by Morgan Stanley, is expected to begin in the next few weeks and will require
investors to inject hundreds of millions of pounds into Ulster in return for a large stake. A
proposal under consideration appears to be bolting Ulster onto other lenders like Permanent TSB
which will allow the enlarged entity to strip out costs and mount a challenge to the two
main banks. Creating a larger bank with new investors could dilute RBS's stake to less than
50%, implying any future losses would not have to be consolidated on RBS's accounts.

The proposal appears targeted at getting Ulster de-consolidated from the
RBS's main financial statements, but our expectation of improved profitability at the two
main Irish would also apply to Ulster Bank, which should ease pressures to de-consolidate
(though one can never underestimate the political motivations). We acknowledge any plan to
bolt-on PTSB could potentially result in significant cost savings, but the high share of
trackers at both institutions is an income headwind. In addition, any combination would
require a reappraisal of valuations of the mortgages transfer, which is potentially
significant, though presumably that’s why the venture requires the new equity investors.

Whilst an enlarged entity may be more profitable with cost-takeout, a
stronger bank would certainly represent more of a threat to the two main banks rather
than two weak ones, but only in the retail space (PTSB has no SME presence). However,
it would represent further consolidation in the marketplace that may over time
provide structurally improved profitability for all the main sector players."